Starhawk, the celebrated author, environmentalist and Wiccan priestess, recently shared about her immigrant grandparents, who left their native Ukraine in 1918 to escape the Czar’s army and the pogrom directed at the Jewish community.
“When I visited Ukraine two years ago to lead a workshop at an intentional community there,” she said, “I found myself haunted by the presence of my great grandfather, whose name I don’t even know. All I know is that the family was very poor. They lived five in one room, at the back of someone else’s house.” Determined to support his family, Starhawk’s great-grandfather worked in a mill as a kind of human draft horse, pulling a rope that turned the big mill wheel. He hauled it from one end of the mill to the other until he dropped dead of a heart attack when her grandmother was only five.
“I think of what it must have cost him to wake up each day and go to a job so taxing, so beyond his strength that it literally killed him. It’s not the kind of heroic strength we’re taught to admire, and yet what immense strength it represents! And how many of our ancestors must have done the same – worked beyond their capacity in systems of oppression so overarching that they saw no way out, yet they did what they had to do to feed their families.”
This heart-breaking tale resonated with me as I looked at the chart for the upcoming Scorpio New Moon (Nov. 8, 11:02 p.m. PT). Though ruled by energetic Mars, Scorpio represents a quiet strength, the kind that cares deeply, perseveres and endures. As the Sun and Moon join in this intense water sign, our hearts go out to all who have suffered and continue to suffer. And we remember that Scorpio, a feminine sign, represents birth and death – the whole continuum. Wherever 16 degrees of Scorpio falls in your natal chart, something may be dying so something new can be born. Certainly, you are taking a deep dive into the matters of that house – finding the strength to compost the past so a new birth can happen.
Retrograde Mercury is also in Scorpio at this New Moon, (turning direct on Nov. 13th.) This can be a rewarding time to plumb your memories of the past, go within and remember those you’ve lost. Mercury at 6 Scorpio is squared by Pluto at 3 Aquarius, lending an intense energy to current events, and triggering profound thoughts and emotions. Let yourself feel whatever you’re feeling; don’t hold it in. Ask for support if you need it, from the living as well as the dead.
Sunday’s lunation is ruled by Mars in courageous Leo, who fights to do what’s right. Mars at 22 Leo is conjunct Jupiter at 25 Leo, magnifying this theme of heroic strength. And both are squared by the Sun and Moon in quiet but relentless Scorpio. Life-and-death themes are all over the news and playing out in our lives as well. Now is the time to turn to your ancestors and ask them for the help you and others need. The veil between worlds remains extra permeable now, so try connecting with your forbears.
Starhawk, born Miriam Simos (6-17-1951, 12:15 pm, St. Paul MN) reminds us that we can learn from our ancestors’ stories and how they lived. A Gemini storyteller with a feisty grand fire trine featuring Venus conjunct Pluto in Leo, Jupiter in Aries and Moon in Sagittarius, she embodies the strength, spirit and determination of those who came before her – who, each in their way, fought the good fight. Tapping into our ancestral powers involves honoring our predecessors’ strengths and struggles. Visualize those who suffered, even working themselves to the bone, as smiling and at peace – and send them gratitude.
If you really want to do it up, Starhawk suggests, “Make food for your ancestors this season. Share it with your family, with your friends. Look at all those old photos. Tell their stories. Remember who they were, and what they worked for, fought for, stood for, lived for. Connect to the strength of those who have gone before, who had the courage to withstand oppression and to stand against tyranny, who did what they had to do to protect the generations to come. That strength is also our strength, and we will need it in the months to come. They want to help us; their job is to help us. All we need to do is ask.”
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